Now that more and more companies have published their #genderpaygap reports, it is abundantly clear that there is still a considerable gap in the tech sector. This won't be a tremendous surprise to those of us who work in tech, but it is validating to see it in black and white.
I'm sure that some people will look at the reports and dismiss the gap as there being fewer women in tech, and that's their choice, etc. and it is true that at least some of the gap in many cases can be explained by lack of women in senior and leadership positions.
But what has personally resonated with me this morning is memories of all the tech outreach programs I have ever designed, run, participated in to encourage young girls to stay in STEM, and all of the "what about the boys though" that I faced along the way.
When I would point out that young boys didn't really need *additional* encouragement to stay in STEM, I was mocked or people implied I was somehow denying boys this fun experience, that it should be for everyone because "that's equality", etc.
The numbers in these reports bear out what I have been saying forever - there is still a huge gender disparity in tech, and we still don't need programs to encourage boys in STEM because the pipeline is very well established. Boys are sticking with STEM, they're good.
I feel that a lot of the people who would try to bash me with "it should be for everyone" are the same people who will look at these numbers and say "it's just because there are fewer women". And I wish they'd realise the two are linked, and learn from this. I fear they won't.
"My daughter got to do this program and there's nothing for my son, he's missing out, that's not fair, why can't you run it for him?"
Everything in tech is already for him 🤷 I'm trying to make it so the next generation of girls don't have to be the only woman in the room.
I've spent so much of my career being the only woman in the room. I don't want to go to my retirement still seeing younger generations join companies and be the only woman in the room. Your son doesn't need my help with this.
@francis The wiki article also does a fair job of summarising (if podcasts aren't your jam) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_disparity_in_computing
@francis But yeah, you are right. It wasn't always like this. Numbers were growing, then they plummeted, and still haven't returned to pre mid-80s levels.
@francis There's a great episode of a podcast from NPR about this - https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/17/356944145/episode-576-when-women-stopped-coding but the high-level summary is that it probably has a lot to do with the rise of personal computers and the way those were marketed and categorised as things for boys/men. There's a notable drop off in women enrolling in tech majors from mid 80's onwards, it used to be different.